American homeless people, surviving in the city

On the way back to the small campsite in the green belt, Lin Qi thought about many things.

Today's events have finally come to an end, but this experience has indeed served as another wake-up call for Lin Qi.

Although he was able to survive on the streets thanks to the various abilities provided by the system, this dangerous society never gave him any time to catch his breath.

A cult that appeared out of nowhere uses every means at its disposal: murder, disappearances, and even the police seem to be under their control.

Once you become their target, it's hard for anyone to escape.

...The good news is that after reaching a cooperation agreement with Chen Kelei, Lin Qi can at least try to find out more about the other party and has some leverage in the game.

Moreover, he shouldn't have come into those people's sights yet, Lin Qi thought.

The bad news is that several homeless people have gone missing on Third Avenue, which is not far away, and nobody knows when they will extend their reach to Lynch's neighborhood.

"I still need to become stronger," Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Lost in thought, the small campsite in the green belt came into view.

This was the first time Lynch had driven back here, and the feeling of looking at the surrounding scenery of the camp from the car was different because of the change in perspective.

Since the green belt was located between two interstate highways and there was nowhere to park, Lynch, imitating Charlotte's family's RV, stepped on the gas and drove his beat-up car into the green belt.

Hearing the clatter of wheels rolling over the bushes and weeds along the street, Raul crawled out of the tent.

Then he watched as a dilapidated car covered in dust and mud burst out of the bushes and came to a steady stop in front of Lynch's tent in the blink of an eye.

Raul rushed to the front of the car, waving his arms and shouting:

"Hey, hey! Dude, this is our territory, no parking here! You parked in my boss's spot..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the driver's side door slowly open, and Lin Qi stepped out with a smile in his eyes.

"What, can I stop here now?"

Raul paused, then a wide smile spread across his face:

"Yes, of course!"

He ran to the broken-down car, touching and knocking on it, getting covered in dust, but still turned around in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at Lin Qi:

"Boss, is this your car?"

"Absolutely! Otherwise, how could I possibly drive it back?"

Lin Qi proudly patted his chest: "Now, even I, your boss, own a car!"

"Only a few days have passed, and you've already managed to get your hands on a car!" Raul's tone was incredibly incredulous. "Did you steal it, boss? What if the police suddenly raid our camp later?"

"Of course not. Besides, the police are probably already drunk by now."

Thinking of the missing Kayla and the drunken Chen Kelei, Lin Qi couldn't help but chuckle. Even if this car was stolen, the police probably wouldn't be able to find him anytime soon.

However, Raul's words also reminded Lynch, who quickly instructed Raul:

"Although the police won't raid our camp because of my car, you guys should be extra careful on the streets lately. The streets have been...very unsafe these past few days."

"What's wrong, boss?" Raul asked, somewhat confused.

"...There's a lot of bad news. One is that because of the recent international conference, Seattle police are stepping up their crackdown on homeless people on the streets. In theory, our secluded camp shouldn't be targeted, but anything can happen, so we still need to be careful in the near future."

"Meanwhile, do you remember this morning when old James said that a lot of homeless people had suddenly disappeared from Third Avenue? Not all of them disappeared because of the cleanup. Recently, a large number of homeless people have gone missing on the streets. The missing are mainly women and children, but there are also cases of young men and the elderly going missing. As far as I know, these cases seem to be linked to a cult..."

"Therefore..." Lynch patted Raul on the shoulder, "You must be careful during this time."

Then, thinking about his upcoming tasks—to continue searching the villa for evidence, to participate in underground boxing matches, and possibly to find Sylvia to warn her of the true identities of her stalkers—Lin Qi added:

"I might be... quite busy these next few days. So if you see old James, Gleeson, or Charlotte, please remind them for me. I don't want us to get dragged into this mess."

Raul listened, somewhat confused. He didn't understand why his boss had brought back so much explosive news after only being gone for a day. Nevertheless, he nodded obediently.

"I understand. I'll remind them when I get back, boss, you can go and get back to work!"

Lin Qi sighed and nodded. That was all he could do for these friends he'd met on the street.

He can barely protect himself now; from now on, they can only hope for the best.

After explaining the recent precautions, Lynch and Raul chatted briefly about daily life before dragging their tired bodies into their tents and sleeping bags.

Actually, on the way to pick up the car this morning, Lynch planned to sleep in the car from now on, just like the three programmers.

Although the space inside the vehicle wasn't as spacious as the tent, it was still a private, enclosed space.

Lying in a car feels safer than lying in a thin, breathable tent.

However, after officially taking delivery of the car, Lin Qi changed his mind.

The reason was simple: the car was incredibly dirty. Not only was the exterior covered in dust and mud, but the interior was also filthy, having been parked in the Seattle Police Department's parking lot for a long time and accumulating a thick layer of dust.

Lynch was barely managing to drive it to work today; to restore it to a habitable state, it would need at least a thorough cleaning from start to finish.

So Lynch ended up spending the night in his tent.

Nothing was said that night.

The next day, Lin Qi woke up early.

Although he still really wanted to stay in bed and play on his phone, the sense of crisis that lingered in his mind because of what he had seen and heard yesterday urged Lin Qi to get out of his sleeping bag early.

When I crawled out of the tent, the sun had just risen over Seattle. In the nearby bushes, a thin layer of frost on the leaves was slowly melting into dew.

Since he was up early, Lin Qi decided to make good use of this precious time.

My schedule is packed for the rest of the day. I'll continue searching the villa during the day, and then I'll attend the Razor Gang's underground boxing match tonight.

Therefore, taking advantage of his precious free time in the morning, he decided to try to find Sylvia in the dining car.

Even if he couldn't find Sylvia, Lynch could still convey a message to her through the white woman who was taking her place at work. At least he had to make her understand that the person following her was definitely not a harmless character like "her brother's boyfriend" from before!